Trunnion for shutters or the like.



'umszsss, I PATENTED AUG. 16, 1904.

' J.H.,F RENGH.

TRUNNION FOR SHUTTBRS- OR THE LIKE. APPLI TIoN FILED 0011a, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

WITNESSES.-

ATTORNEY.

UNITED. STATES Patented August 16, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

TRUNNION FOR SHUTTERS" OR THE LIKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 767,558, dated August16, 1904. Application filed October 19,1903. Serial No. 177,531. on)model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEROME H. FRENCH, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Trunnionsfor Shutters or the Like, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to trunnions for shutters, blinds, and the like,and has for its object to enable shutters and the like to be madestronger than has heretofore. been the case and also to make it possibleto-repair such articles with ease, and so-that the repair will be notonly practically invisible, but even stronger than the originalconstruction.

Wooden shutters and the like, as is well known, are commonly made withmovable slats, eachslat being made with a pair of trunnions, one at eachend, journaled in sockets on the side bars of the frame. These trunnionshave heretofore been of wood and integral with the slats and wereprovided by turning or otherwise forming them on the ends of the slats.Necessarily the trunnions were made quite smalland being of wood theaction of the weather, together with wear, soon weakened them so thattheywould in a comparatively short while after the shutter was installedbreak off, thus letting one end of the slat hang below the other. Inorder to repair the break, it has always heretofore been necessary toremove at least one of the side bars, take out the broken slat, andreplace it by a new'one, after which the frame was put together again.Furthermore, for appearance sake it was necessary to repaint the wholeof the shutter; otherwise the fresh paint on the new slat would contrasttoo strongly with the old paint on the other parts of the shutter. Thisnecessity for repainting the whole structure and the necessity fortaking the shutter apart in order to repair it have both always beenhighly objectionable,

and my invention has in view mainly to obviate these objections.

My invention consists, essentially, ofa trunnionmade with a base to fitagainst the end of a shutter-slat or the like, and this base is providedwith means for centering the trunnion on slats or the like of differentthicknesses. Herein I have shown the base as made w1th two opposed ears,one on one side and the other on the opposite side theneof,

which are adapted to embrace the end; of the.

shutter and to be fastened thereto. In the best form of my invention,l1owever,';the two ears are diagonally opposed-that is, they are offsetrelatively, so that they do not face each other, the purpose of thisoffset arrangement an elevation of part of a shutter embodying one formof my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1, partly in section.Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are views of my new trunnion by itself. Figs. 7and8explain the use of my new trunnion. Fig. 9 shows a modified form ofmy invention.

Ordinary wooden shutters are usually made with two side bars 1 1,connected at their ends by two cross-bars. (Not shown.) Within thisframework are fastened the slats, one of which is shown at 2. As hereinshown, each end of each slat has fastened to it a trunnion 3, preferablystruck up from sheet metal, and these trunnions are journaled in socketsprovided, as usual, in the side bars 1 1. As shown, each trunnion3 ismade with a base 4 to fit against the end of the slat, and this base 4:is made with two cars 5 5, one on one side of the base and the other onthe opposite side thereof; but the two cars are diagonally opposed oroffset relatively, so that they do not face each other.

The purpose of having the two ears offset relatively is to give to thetrunnion a capacity to fit slats of different thicknesses and also toenable it to center itself on the slat, whatever the thickness of thelatter may bethat is, a trunnion of a given size is applicable to slatsof difi erent thicknesses and cannot be applied to a slat of anythickness within the limit of its capacity otherwise than with its axismidway of the thickness of the slat. This will be clear from Figs. 7 and8. Of course when used with a slat as shown in Fig. 8 it is necessaryfor best results either to bend the ears down onto the side surface ofthe slat or to drive them in flush with that surface, and this can beefiected when the nail by which the ear is fastened to the slat isdriven. This self-adjusting capacity of my new trunnion is a featurewhich I believe to be distinctive and controlling, because not only canthe trunnion be embodied in a shutter having slats of any ordinarythickness when the shutter is first made, thereby making it possible toproduce a stronger and longer-lived shutter than has been possible withthe old integral wooden trunnion, but as an article of manufacture thisdistinctive feature is the basis of its main value, which is that by theuse of my new trunnion a broken slat of an all-wood shutter, such as arenow in almost universal use, can

be repaired with extreme ease and without,

takingthe shutter apart, as has heretofore beennecessary, or withoutrequiring repainting.

In Fig. 9 I have shown a modified form of trunnion, which differs fromthat shown in Figs. 1 to 8, inclusive, in that the ears are notperforated, but are each made with an integral spike 6, made by turninginwardly a pointed extension provided on each of said ears.

What I claim is 1. As a new article of manufacture, a trunnion having abase-plate extending laterally from opposite sides of the trunnion andmade near its outer ends with opposedand relatively oflset ears toreceive between them the end of a slat, the trunnion being angularlyadjustable on its axis to fit the ears to slats of differentthicknesses.

2. A trunnion having a base-plate extending laterally from oppositesides of the trunnion and made near its outer ends with opposed earsrelatively offset to receive between them the end of a slat, thetrunnion being angularly adjustable on its axis to fit the ears to thethickness of the slat and to position the trunnion centrally withrelation to the slat.

3. As a new article of manufacture a trunnion made with alaterally-extending baseplate to engage the end of ashutter-slat or thelike,andapairof diagonally-arranged and relatively opposed earsprojecting from the base plate to engage the opposite sides of the slat.

4. As a new article of manufacture a trunnion made with a base 4 toengage the end of a shutter-slat or the like, and a pair ofdiagonally-opposed ears 5, 5, projecting from the base to engage theopposite sides of the slat substantially as described.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, this 1st day of October, 1903.

JEROME H. FRENCH. Witnesses:

ARTHUR F. RANDALL, JOSEPH T. BRENNAN.

